Hey everybody, welcome back. This is Food for
Thought, Thoughts that Fit With You, and I'm
your host, Neogentrics. It is midnight right now,
and today we're going to talk about a topic that's
long since overdue. What is personal development?
So, simple question, basic answer. And like I
mentioned before, there's a lot of stuff going
on right now in life, and everyone's, you know...
Worried about what they need to do, how they
need to progress throughout their lives thanks
to the pandemic. Are they going to be able to
move on? Are they going to start to wear face
masks, different things like that. But a lot
of people are mostly worried about their kids.
Some are more worried about themselves and how
they take care of themselves. Well, today and
tomorrow I'm going to cover two different podcasts.
You'll probably get them back to back, who knows.
It just depends on when I decide to release them.
But today I'm going to cover what is personal
development and tomorrow I'm going to talk about
the practical steps for that. But before we go
any further, I want you to go ahead and understand
this. Personal development is a lifelong process.
You know, it is in a way, it's a way for people
to assess their skills, qualities, you know,
and consider their aims in life and set goals
in order to realize and maximize their potential.
Okay? One of the things I'm going to do is help
you identify the skills you need to set life
goals, which can enhance your employability,
prospects, raise your confidence, or even lead
to more fulfilling, higher quality of life, depending
on your preference of a higher quality of life.
Also, plan to make relevant and positive, also
effective life choices slash decisions for your
future to enable personal empowerment. It's just
a way to make you feel better and move. forward
in the right direction. Okay? So I got a question.
Why is personal development even important in
the first place? Why does it even matter? Well,
to be fair, there are many ideas surrounding
personal development. And one of them is, of
course, Abraham Maslow's process of self -actualization.
Self -actualization. Something to keep in mind
here. I do believe it's 1970. He suggested that
all individuals have an inbuilt need for personal
development, which occurs through a process of
self -actualization, which is basically analyzing
yourself. Let me give you an example. Let me
dive into this first, and then I'll tell you
what I mean. So, to an extent, to which people
are able to develop depends on certain needs
being met, and, you know, these needs, he formed
them into a kind of hierarchy, if you will. Only
when one level of need is satisfied can someone
develop something higher or go higher. You know,
and as change occurs throughout life, however,
the level of motivation needed by someone's behavior
can also change from time to time. So keep that
in mind. The very, very bottom of this pyramid
for this hierarchy. is basic physiological needs
such as food, drink, sleep, the basics for survival,
yes, this includes sex, weirdly enough, and exercise.
All of these things are stuff that matter as
far as your basic physiological needs. Second
are the needs for safety and security, both in
the physical and economic sense. You know, feeling
safe from potentially dangerous situations, whether
physical or psychological, and other events.
Or... If you're one of those people that's more
materialistic, health, work, money, routines,
familiarity, things of that nature. Third, the
progression can be made to satisfy the needs
for love and belonging. You know, the affiliation
of feeling like you're part of a group, a family,
a society, something at work. Essentially a way
of giving and receiving trust, acceptance, affection,
love, what have you. Doesn't really matter as
far as that one's concerned. You can read into
that however much you need. The fourth one where
a lot of people fail is usually the need for
self -esteem and self -worth. A lot of people
don't have this, and most people consider this
level technically self -empowerment. I can always
cover that at a later date when I cover personal
empowerment. For lack of a better word, that's
what this is. It's basically feeling confident,
having some self -respect, self -esteem, or in
other people's cases, gaining the respect of
others, families, socially, or at work for what
it is that they do in that regard. Fifth relates
to the need to understand. This level includes
more abstract entities such as the curiosity
and search for the meaning or purpose of something,
or your life, or other deeper understanding,
what have you. okay six refers to aesthetic needs
which is beauty symmetry order creativity art
design something of that category once you get
past the self -esteem issue and the needing to
know why being able to develop some type of creative
aesthetic is you know usually something that
people look towards like they like I need to
have something to do I can't just do nothing
And then finally at the top of Maslow's hierarchy
was self -actualization, which essentially means
reaching your full potential, becoming everything
one is capable of becoming. That's essentially
the main idea. Essentially, Maslow said that
all individuals have the need to see themselves
as competent and autonomous. Also, that every
person has less room for growth, to a point,
you know, they're only limited by themselves.
But self -actualization in a nutshell means to
refer to the desire that everyone has to become
everything that they are capable of becoming
in a nutshell. Or in other words, it refers to
self -fulfillment and the need to reach a full
potential as a unique human being. Everyone likes
to feel unique. They don't want to feel like
they're somebody else. Although for a lot of
people, when they fail to identify self, They
think that they need to be like everyone else.
That's the whole idea of, hey, you're not normal.
You're not this. Meaning that they like being
like other people. They don't want to be themselves.
So, but as for Maslow, the path of self -actualization
involves being in touch with your feelings, experiencing
life fully, and, you know, utter total concentration.
Something that most people are not capable of
doing. Alright everybody, let's continue. So,
next you need to manage your personal development.
There are a number of steps to take in managing
your personal development that you can use. The
first one is develop a personal vision. Personal
development can be simple, or rather, it can
be simply fun. But for most of us, however, we
find it easier to motivate ourselves. and to
learn and improve if we have a purpose in doing
so. Developing your vision, a clear idea of where
you want to be in a few months or years and why
is a very crucial part in developing this purpose.
Okay, next, planning your personal development.
Once you're clear about what you want to be,
you can start planning how to get there. Drawing
up a personal development plan is not even essential,
but it does make the planning process a little
more realistic and you can visually see what
you're doing. Not to mention that, you know,
once you start the improvement process, everything
just kind of falls into place as it should. Okay?
Now, next to last, I want you to remember that
recording your personal development is something
that is key to moving forward. Okay? A lot of
people aren't able to do this, so there's different
things you need to be aware of. This idea of
recording your personal development is also to
help you reflect and also may serve to motivate
you for your future skills moving forward. Try
to keep a learning log or a journal as you develop
your skills and your knowledge as well. It'll
help you improve at a faster and more reactive
rate. And lastly, I want you to... you know remember
to review and revise your personal development
plans as you go as like your body and you they
do change over time okay for more effective learning
it is important to reflect your experiences and
consider what you have learned from them Regular
review of your personal development plans and
your development activities will ensure that,
you know, you learn from what you have done and
also ensure that your activities continue to
move you towards your goal and that your goals
or visions remain relevant to you. Keep this
in mind as you continue to, you know, increase
and improve on your personal development, okay?
A lot of people don't, aren't able to do this,
so keep this in mind that it does take time.
It doesn't happen overnight. All right. I want
to thank you guys for listening in to this podcast.
I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your day.